EJ Obiena ends Paris Olympics campaign, narrowly misses podium finish
EJ Obiena has ended his 2024 Paris Olympics campaign after failing to clear the 5.95m bar at the men's pole vault final.
The Filipino athlete was shy of a podium finish, placing fourth overall at the event which took place at Stade de France on Aug. 6 Philippine time.
Obiena cleared the 5.50m, 5.70m, 5.85m, 5.90m bars with ease while he faulted his first attempts at 5.80m and his three tries at 5.95m.
The world's no. 1 pole vaulter Armand Duplantis of Sweden cleared the 5.70m, 5.85, 5.95, 6.00m, and 6.10m marks flawlessly. At the Paris Games, he earned the gold medal, broke Thiago Braz's 6.03m record for men's pole vault, and set his new personal best record.
Duplantis only faltered twice as he attempted to clear 6.25 to break his current 6.24m record.
Meanwhile, USA's Sam Kendricks finished in second while Greece's Emmanouil Karalis finished in third.
Obiena had some stumbles during the preliminaries on Aug. 3 as he failed to clear 5.60m twice. Then, he decided to move up to 5.70m which he successfully leaps over.
After the event, the pole vaulter apologized to his supporters for the shaky start.
"Sorry po sa mga napakaba ko kanina. Ako rin po kinabahan ng todo ng di ko maintindihan," he wrote on social media.
"My dream was on the line in one jump and it's as stressful as it can be," he told One Sports.
During the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Obiena advanced to the men's pole vault finals but fell short of a podium finish. He placed 11th overall.
Obeina is the world's no. 2 pole vaulter, behind Sweden's Duplantis.
Earlier in the year, the 28-year-old was named Athlete of the Year by the San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association.
Obiena holds the Asian record, 6.00m, which he cleared at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.